How To Get a Great Assistant – Empowery eCommerce Summit (2019)
Tim Francis has helped hire over 500 Virtual Assistants through his company, Great Assistant.
10 years ago Tim started his hiring journey. He was working from his basement, living with 3 roommates just to make ends meet. But he was happy – he was a full-time Entrepreneur and the world seemed free and unlimited.
As his business grew, more and more admin and minutiae started piling up, and his business felt more and more like a prison. Having read The 4-Hour Workweek, he believed the solution was hiring overseas.
He quickly realized overseas workers came with several challenges, including working with radically different time zones. So he went back to doing everything himself.
While his frustration decreased, his workload suddenly jumped from 70 hours per week to 90 hours per week. A few stressful incidents arose in his business, and when this new stress combined with his ongoing fatigue, Tim developed an illness called Erythema Nodosum. Swelling spread through his body, and he was unable to walk for 3 full months.
During this time, Tim came across the quote, “Hell is meeting the man you could have been.” He knew, in that moment, there was no turning back: he MUST build a team. He knew that business was a team sport, and if he was ever going to fulfill his potential as an Entrepreneur, he had to overcome his problems with hiring and delegating.
This time, though, there was no room for amateur attempts. He decided he must hire from North America, even if he didn’t know how to afford their higher wages, and even if he wasn’t clear on what to delegate first.
He took the plunge and was astounded when his own consulting revenue skyrocketed from $40/hr to $50/hr, then $100, $250, $500, and now $1,000/hr and still climbing.
“Entrepreneurs often proclaim: ‘Oh Tim, obviously you have an Assistant. You charge $1,000/hr.'”
To which Tim gently replies, “Actually, it’s the other way around. I charge $1,000/hr today, because I got a US-based Assistant back when I was charging only $40/hr.”
Over the last 5 years Tim has refined his hiring method on how to get a Great Assistant, and has founded Great Assistant, a virtual company dedicated to helping Entrepreneurs to fulfill their potential through hiring a Great Assistant.
In Tim’s talk, “How to Get a Great Assistant,” Tim takes 10 years of experience, and combines it with his insights from hiring over 150 Assistants to produce the best 45-min available to teach the skills, templates, and insights on how to get your own great Assistant.
Tim Francis is a regular contributor to Forbes, has appeared as a guest lecturer at NYU in New York City, University of Texas at Austin and has been seen on Inc.com. Tim is based in Austin, Texas, and loves hosting dinner parties for fellow Entrepreneurs.
Questions? Please email us at: support@greatassistant.com